(Updated February, 1998)
Q: Will the current version work with System 8?
A: Apple again changed the way that the zoom rectangles are drawn and
the way that Empty Trash works. So the zoom open, zoom closed, and
empty trash sounds will not work with OS8. However, Apple may be
adding event sounds to System 8.2, so it may not matter much longer.
Before I can fix any of this, I will need to have some time on a
68040 Mac running OS8 to find out what has changed.
Q: What is the latest version of SoundMaster?
A: 1.8.4. No version earlier than 1.8.2 should be used on a
PowerPC machine under any condition, and the other two stable
older versions are 1.7.3 and 1.6.5. (1.6.5 is recommended
if you're running System 6 because you get the old style
Finder Sounds.)
Q: Where can I get the latest version SoundMaster?
A: My master home page is located via:
http://members.aol.com/btomlin/
The SoundMaster home page is located at:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~btomlin/soundmaster.html
The download files are in:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~btomlin/ftp/
And, as always, I do *not* make the sound files. Any sounds you
are already using should still work with the latest version.
Please do not ask me where to find new sounds, as I don't know
where to look, nor do I have the time to hunt them down.
Note: Netscape seems to have a problem downloading binary StuffIt
files (it apparently tries to download them in text mode), so I
have put up a .hqx version which hopefully will work. However,
this may really have been a problem with my previous ISP.
I have just noticed that lonestar.texas.net does not support anonymous
ftp access. I will soon put a copy in members.aol.com for people
who only have ftp access.
Q: What is your current mailing address?
A: Bruce Tomlin
645 Weatherly
San Antonio, TX 78239-2026
E-mail: btomlin@aol.com
I also have the same user name at texas.net.
(Note: Please do not send e-mail to my Fidonet or GEnie addresses.)
Q: I tried getting it from the internet but it says the file is
corrupted.
A: If you are using Netscape, download the .hqx BinHex file instead.
Netscape apparently has a problem with trying to download it as a
text file (which corrupts the file) when it is quite obviously a
binary file. However, this seems to really have been a problem with
the web server of my previous ISP.
If you were using FTP, remember to use the "BINARY" command in
FTP to set binary mode, and don't forget to download it with a
MacBinary aware terminal program.
Q: Why won't it play this sound file I got off the Internet?
A: Because .au and .wav are not Macintosh sound file formats. You
will have to find a sound conversion program. Search for a program
called SoundApp.
Q: Will there be a new version? Will you add more sound events?
A: There will probably not be a new shareware version, unless some
kind of major bug is found. I have the core of a 2.0 version
written, but I haven't done any work on the user interface, and
have been too busy lately with a full time job (which pays my
bills) to care. 2.0 will be a commercial version when it is
finished because I won't have time to deal with the mail, but
there is the chance of a "Lite" version with some features
disabled.
However, I have heard that Apple will *finally* put some sort of
sound events capability into 8.2. So maybe there won't be a new
SoundMaster after all. It's rather difficult to keep up with
changes in the system software. On the other hand, if Apple does
things right, it may make a program like SoundMaster significantly
easier to write.
Q: I have Kaboom 3.0. That's SoundMaster, right?
A: Nope. They got someone to write a clone of it. And they probably
had him do it for hire so they wouldn't have to pay any royalties.
In any case, I'm getting nothing from Kaboom now. Zero, zip, nada.
If you don't like this practice, don't buy anything from Nova.
On the other hand, everyone who purchased an AudioClips set from
Sound Source Unlimited is eligible to go ahead and use the latest
1.x version of SoundMaster.
Currently the =only= money I'm getting from SoundMaster is a
trickle of direct registrations. If you recently paid to get
SoundMaster ANY other way, you are NOT registered.